Bed-rail.



No. 743,073. PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

' W. D. HALL.

BED RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM D. HALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BED-RAIL.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent 0. 743,073, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed May 7, 1903. Serial No. 155,981. (No model.)

bed-rails, and more particularly to a short form of rail adapted to be used in connecting the head and foot members of a bedstead close together for the purpose of exhibition where economy of floor-space and ease in shifting them about upon the floor are desired.

Among the salient objects of the inventionare to provide a device of this kind which is simple and economical of construction, to provide a device which can readily be applied to the end members of any of the ordinary forms of bedsteads, and to provide a device which when applied to such end members will hold them in a rigid upright position and yet possessing sufficient flexibility to respond to the weight of said members in their tendency to stand with all four feet upon the floor at the same time, thus avoiding the tottering and unsteady position of repose common when the ordinary connecting-rails for exhibiting purposes are used.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described,and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims, and will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an edge view of the head and foot members of a bedstead, showing a modified form of my invention in operation. Fig. 2 is a side plan view of the preferred form of my invention. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a top view taken on line 4 4, Fig. 1, with certain parts broken away.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.

1 and 2 represent the head and foot members, respectively, of a bedstead used to show the application of my invention. 3 and 4 are supporting-blocks secured to the side'posts of said head and foot members in the usual manner and having formed therein the sockets 3 and 4: (Shown in Fig. 4.)

5 represents my invention as a whole, and, as will be seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3, it consists of a shortand comparatively thin strip in the form shown, with the conicalshaped shoulders 8 8 adapted to fit into similarly-shaped sockets 3' 4' in the supportingblocks 3 and 4, thus insuring a rigid joint therebetween and one which can readily be taken apart when desired.

Bymaking the connecting-strip 6 of resilient metal and placing it edgewise between the attaching-blocks in the manner shown it affords a connection'which is sufficiently rigid to prevent a tilting in either direction of the end members and at the same time permits of sufficient torsional movement under the weight of said members to adapt them to any unevenness in the floor-surface and to allow all four feet to rest upon the floor at the same time.

I am aware that it is common to make short connecting-bars for exhibition purposes of wood and also of angle-iron, such as the fulllength bars are made of; but these have their objections in that the wood bars are very soon so worn at the points of contact with the iron through being shifted about so much as to cause a tilting and unsecure connection between the members and often drop out of the sockets and allow the members to fall upon the floor, while with the short angle-iron members they are so stiff that the tendency is, unless fitted to the particular members with which they are to be used, to cause a tottering and unsteady position of said members and will not permit them to adapt themselves by reason of their own weight to the floorsurface upon which they are placed. These objections are overcome in my invention.

In Fig. l I have shown a modified form of my invention in which instead of a single strip connecting the attaching-blocks two rodlike members 6 are used with the same desired effect.

It will be evident that variations in the form of the different parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, restrict myself to the particular construction shown.

I claim- 1. A show-room bed-rail, comprising end blocks adapted for rigid engagement with the sockets of head and foot members of a bedstead, and means connecting said blocks comprising one or more short relatively thin resilient strips arranged in a Vertical plane and rigidly united with said blocks, whereby the blocks and connected bedstead members are susceptible of torsional movement, but held rigid against tilting toward or from each 1 0 other.

2. A show-room bed-rail, comprising end blocks adapted for rigid engagement with the sockets of head and foot members of a bedstead, and means connecting said blocks comprising a short relatively thin resilient metal strap arranged with its plane vertical, and having its end rigidly seated in the respective blocks.

WILLIAM D. HALL. Witnesses:

FREDERICK O. GOODWIN, WILLIAM R. LITZENBERG. 

